Price.Line.Negotiaaaator.

Bought a car yesterday! Yes, I know. We move fast! I believe my last post said in the next couple of months we would have a new car. Well, one of our trusty Toyota salesman called us back with an 07 Toyota Camry SE that had just been traded in from a lease.

Before we headed over to the dealership we asked the price over the phone and did most of the negotiating there to ensure it was worth our time to come out and look at the car. The first price they quoted us was way off and we actually asked if it was right. It wasn't. Of course. He said it was a "misprint" and quoted us a price 2K lower. That's better. Then, we low balled. We started the negotiating and really pushed for 2K lower than asking and to include all tax, title, and license fees. We also wanted them to remove the extended warranty, because, while it does make a person feel warm and fuzzy, we're buying a Toyota because we shouldn't need the warranty. We would rather save the thousand dollars than pay for a warranty that will most likely not get used. If you read consumer reports, they talk about these extended warranties and the hidden costs behind them. Nothing is free. My dad successfully bought a certified pre-owned car and had the warranty removed in order to get the price down. These guys weren't budging though. Ben and I decided that they were close enough to our bottom line that it was worth a trip.

We get out there and he's got the car pulled up front for us. It's black, 25k miles, gray leather, moon roof, heated seats, CD player, bluetooth, spoiler, power seats, locks, everything.. more in the one car than both my old car and the van combined! It was awfully shiny, I kinda felt like a girl looking at a precious diamond for the first time. So sparkly, so clean, so... speechless.

We drove it around the block and returned to the dealership with our guns loaded. Ben and I both agreed; if they couldn't drop the warranty or the equivalent thousand dollars off, we were walking. So we sat down with our salesman and started in. I didn't get huffy, I wasn't emotionally attached yet, so it was easy for me to not really care at that point. No sense in raising my blood pressure over a car. But it was so sparkly and shiny.

He wasn't budging off the warranty, said it was already purchased from Toyota, can't return them, yada yada. We explained our point, explained my dad's purchase, etc... nothing, not moving. He even said, "look, my boss is only going to make about $500 off this deal as it stands." That comment didn't phase Ben or me. He said he could maybe take off another hundred, but let's be honest, in the scheme of things, that's chump change. We had already planned our walk away line, so that was our cue. "Well, thanks so much for calling us, but at least now you know where we stand. If anything else comes in we would be happy to take a look." And so we walked.

We were in the car about ten minutes down the road and we got a call. Guess who? It was our salesman telling us he could offer us 3.9% financing if that would help cut costs for us. Since we were planning on putting a pretty healthy chunk of cash down we told him thanks, but really it won't make a significant difference. We hang up. Ben looks at me and says, "I wonder if they would come down an additional $350, because with the lower financing that would work out to about our ideal price." So we called back.

Salesman: "let me check with my boss."

Us: "ok"
(phone rings again)
SM:"It's a deal, can you come back in tonight?"
Us: (cutting through three lanes of traffic to the exit ramp)

I'm cheesing at this point. And yes, phone calls to both parents had been made telling them about the news before we had even signed any paper work or received the keys. Hell, we weren't even close to the dealership, we had to turn around and drive twenty minutes back.

Got all the paperwork filled out and, to our surprise, even though we didn't have the check ready for them they still gave us the keys and let us take it home, just had to call when the financing had been completed. I got to drive the car home. Since it was already 9:00pm by that time and we still hadn't had dinner we went out to celebrate!

Looking back, I think we did a great job on our first car buying experience. We managed to get outta there paying a thousand dollars off the asking price including TTL. Which ended up putting the car priced about four thousand lower than our bottom line. Suckers. One thing that we made note of for the future: when you decide to walk, don't drive home, drive around the block and sit and wait. We would have saved a lot of time and gas. It was definitely classic. Dad said, if you walk, they will chase you. I thought for sure they were standing firm and us walking was not going to phase them, but dad knows best!